Which of the following can be inferred about the author's view of 'ordinary history'?
It is often said that history is written by the victors. The saying has a grain of truth: records of the defeated are more likely to be burned, and their stories less often told. But taken literally it is false. Some of the most scathing accounts of rulers were written under those rulers' successors, and the losers have often written the most influential histories, as the defeated of one war write with bitter care to understand why they lost. The saying also leaves out the more important point that history is written by those who have time, records and readers. The danger is not that one side's version prevails but that the voices of those who left few records, the poor, the illiterate, women in many periods, are lost to ordinary history.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. It tends to favour those who had the time, records and readers to be remembered
- Step 1: The author says the danger is that voices of those who left few records are lost to ordinary history.
- Step 2: So ordinary history reflects those who had time, records and readers.
Answer
It tends to favour those who had the time, records and readers to be remembered.
Why not the others: Ordinary history is not written by the poor and illiterate, does not contain too many accounts of the defeated, is not uninterested in rulers and is not mainly written by women.
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